December 11, 2008

I remember the day I got my first car driving training. Before I sat on the driver seat, I was thinking "No big deal man. You hold the steering wheel straight. You look at the road and the car, you very well know if the car is on the correct lane going straight. It's not rocket science." So I thought, until the trainer asked me to sit behind the steering wheel.

When I was driving the car, I had no control over the car's direction. I was looking at the road and said to myself "Oh, the car is going towards left" and I turned the vehicle to right-hand side. The instructor promptly set the steering wheel back to its original angle and said "Why are you turning to right on a straight road?" It was surprising how such an easy and obvious thing can be so hard! Of course, steering control is no rocket science and I learned it in a few days. But it took a few days to get used to.

Last week my doctor said, "You have to sit near the bed's edge as if you are sitting on a chair and move your leg like this". And he showed me how to move my leg. It involved a slight movement of my broken knee. Today I am supposed to start that exercise. So I went to the edge of the bed and let my leg hang on the edge. Awww... sudden shock of pain. I lay down on the bed and rested for a few minutes.

This time, I said I'd do it slowly. After moving every few inches of my leg I stopped and relaxed for a second. And finally, there I was, with my whole leg off the bed! Now I am supposed to move my leg up-and-down using my knee joint. I try and try and try. My knee and my leg both don't move at all. After a few attempts, I could move my leg one inch! Wow! Before I could do it again, I became super-tired and went back to rest. I had never thought moving my own leg could be this hard!

Hmm... Everything in life needs practice it seems. What all other things I practiced when I was a kid, I don't know. But for now, like people say, patience is a virtue I guess :)